Champlain CCAC Cuts Services For Seniors

(PERTH) MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington) expressed his alarm that seniors in the Champlain Community Care Access Centre's catchment area are having their Personal Support Worker (PSW) care visits cut in half.

After meeting with a number of PSWs that work in the Champlain CCAC region, and as highlighted in a recent story by Bob Hepburn of the Toronto Star, Hillier has learned that many seniors will see their assisted care reduced to a 15-minute visit.

"What kind of care could we possibly be providing someone in fifteen minutes?" Hillier asked rhetorically.

Hillier has penned a letter to the Board Chair and the President of the Champlain CCAC, demanding a reversal of the policy decision, and suggesting that they instead focus on the larger financial problems and find greater efficiencies within administration before diminishing patient services.

It appears these changes have been initiated in the Champlain CCAC catchment area, however it is anticipated they will expand to other CCACs prior to their anticipated incorporation into the LHINs with Bill 210.

"Clients in in my riding are served by either the Champlain CCAC or the South East CCAC; by far, the services delivered by the Champlain CCAC have been a regular source of complaints and aggravation for their clients, as compared to the SE Region, which seems to function much more effectively," says Hillier. "These new changes only magnify the mismanagement and further demonstrate that lack of concern the Champlain CCAC has for their clients."